This invention relates to a pants presser which allows the user to longitudinally stretch and press a pair of pants while simultaneously applying heat thereto.
Pants pressers are known in the art which grip and stretch a pair of pants before they are pressed. Such prior art pants pressers as exemplified in the patent to P. J. S. Corby, U.S. Pat. No. Re. 27,368, and are generally provided with two flat members between which the pants are pressed, a handle for opening and closing together the two flat members, a gripping means which grabs and stretches the pants and a means for heating the pants. The Corby device requires that the pants have cuffs of reasonable thickness so that the cuff gripper of said device is able to securely grasp the cuffs of the pants. The cuff gripper is designed to recess from the plane of the flat member with which it is associated. The Corby device is also provided with stretcher bars which grab the top and the bottom of the pants and stretch said pants longitudinally in opposite directions. However, the Corby device is deficient in that said stretcher bars are not adjustable, as such, and provide the same amount of longitudinal stretch movement without regard to the type of pants material and the ability of such material to stretch. Moreover, the user of this device has no control over the amount and angle of the stretch, so that if the user incorrectly installs installs the pants in the pants presser, he is unable to detect the existence of wrinkles caused by improper installation of the pants since the pants presser closes as the pants are stretched thereby precluding observation of the pants during the stretching action.
Another prior art device is described in the patent of De Dube, U.S. Pat. No. 3,070,910. This device comprises two flat members and two gripping bars each suspended on a leaf springs at the top and bottom of one of said members. The leaf springs urge the gripping means toward the moving flat member on which the pants are installed. Thus, as the flat members are closed together, the gripping means press the pants against the moving member on which said pants are installed, and stretches the pants a predetermined amount as a result of the movement of the gripping means away from its origin. The drawbacks of the De Dube device include the potential for creases in the pants to occur where the pants cannot be viewed after they are in a stretched position since the members are closed together at that point. Further, the predetermined amount of stretch is a function of the configuration of the leaf spring which cannot take into account the variable stretchability of different types of material, and with the possible result of overstretching and fabric stress. Also, this device is more complex and consequently more expensive than necessary to achieve the desired result, in that the leaf spring must be properly arched to apply the desired tension and stretch a pair of pants. Moreover, the leaf spring requires more space than is necessary for other spring types due to the arcuate movement of the gripping means on the leaf spring. As a result, the gripping means cannot to be positioned close to the bottom of the flat member on which it is installed.